So, before we dig any deeper, I thought a new sum up would be helpful.
Cast of characters: Same... Grumpy, the three Whack-a-loons and me.
Date of trip: Changed... We're now going to be in Disney from December 21st - December 26th.
The resort: Same... Port Orleans Riverside.
Transportation to the world: Well... Still driving but probably using personal vehicles now.
ADRs: Many changes.
The biggest challenge with the change of date is, of course, the ADRs. Being a planner, and having some idea of exactly how crazy Christmas week can be at WDW thanks to this board I kind of had to jump right straight into making reservations. And we're also now staying for an additional day which adds even more to the ADR plate.
As this is the first trip to WDW for our boys - and the first trip back for Grumpy and I since we were kids - I knew that I wanted to start off our trip on the 22nd in the Magic Kingdom. I grabbed a 11:00 am reservation at The Plaza and a 5:30 pm spot at Tony's Town Square. There was zilch available for breakfast but I wasn't stressed about it - if all else failed we could always grab a QS something or other.
I didn't know what we wanted to do on the 23rd initially so I skipped over it.
Then we were to two big days - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I knew I was going to be fighting a uphill battle for ADRs so I went into it with zero expectations. I used the "Make A Dining Reservation" function on disneyworld.disney.go.com and just sat back and hoped for the best...
December 24th - 7:10 am - The Crystal Palace
December 24th - 1:30 pm - Be Our Guest
December 24th - 9:35 pm - Cinderella's Royal Table
Guys, can I tell you? I nearly lost my dang mind. How in the world these were available is just... Well, it's just beyond me. I have never, ever had so much Pixie Dust hit me at the same time. I am so, so grateful that my kids are older and will be able to hang with an all day schedule like this because it never even occurred to me that I would be able to get all three of these. I was so happy about Christmas Eve that I wasn't even worried about Christmas - I mean, it's Christmas at Disney - how can you not be happy? No matter what, it would be awesome. I just let the Make A Dining Reservation doo-dad do it's thing...
December 25th - 8:00 am - Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
December 25th - 1:00 pm - Via Napoli
December 25th - 6:25 pm - Biergarten
I am so blown away. How amazing is that? My husband, Grumpy, had only one request for the whole trip - Biergarten - and I landed it for Christmas dinner. Akershus for breakfast? The Girl is going to be beside herself. And Via Napoli - you are going to make Boy #1 & Boy #2 so, so happy.
With all of this amazingness going on I went back over my notes and decided that since no one in the family has much interest in anything outside of MK & EPCOT we would just stick to those two parks for all 4 days meals (we do have the Park Hopper so as long as the crowds aren't too insane we can pop to other parks if we feel the pull) so I pulled the trigger for lunch at Teppan Edo (12:10 pm) and Rose & Crown for dinner (7:50 pm) on the 23rd and then... Tinkerbell struck again. The Teppan Edo reservation was available
with the Candlelight Processional. I am SO excited.
And the 5:00 pm show works perfectly with our dinner reservation!
I added an arrival night meal at Boatwright's Dining Hall and patted myself on the back. I had totally stuck the landing on a round-off, back handspring into a 2 1/2 twisting layout back flip of a ADR line-up and I was pleased as punch with myself. I was only short 2 meals, both of which were breakfasts and both of which were on days that I felt would be perfectly fine grabbing something quick.
Then, I heard that BOG was taking breakfast reservations. I only checked it out on a lark - I mean, I had already totally gotten my share of pixie dust, there was no WAY I'd grab more.
December 22nd - 8:05 am - Be Our Guest
Stick a fork in me Mickey... I'm done.
That's actually not true - if Liberty Tree Tavern opens up for reservations I'm totally going to try to swap our lunch on Christmas Eve at Be Our Guest since I locked down the BOG breakfast